Open letter to Mayer Schreiber, CEO, Discovery Park
As read out by Diane Langford at the Kent Rally for Palestine, Saturday May 11th at the Guildhall Forecourt, Sandwich, Kent.
THE LUCAS PLAN
Before I read from our letter to Discovery Park, I want to tell you about the Lucas Plan, because it’s highly relevant to what’s going on here.
In the 1970s Trade Unionists facing redundancy, scientists, engineers, designers, produced a blueprint for transforming Lucas Aerospace, a company that produced combat aircraft and the Sting Ray missile system for NATO into one that produced socially useful products for the common good.
In 1976 the Lucas Aerospace Combine Shop Stewards Committee produced an Alternative Corporate Plan for Lucas Aerospace that advocated the production of socially useful products for the common good.
They asked th 18,000-strong workforce, facing redundancy.
“If you didn’t make weapons what else would you make?”
Their ideas included drawings of wind turbines, energy-efficient heat pumps and hybrid power packs for cars – virtually unheard of in the 1970s.
The Combine Shop Stewards Committee regarded it as scandalous that people could be dying for the want of a kidney machine when those who could be producing them were facing redundancy.
IN GAZA RIGHT NOW, PEOPLE ARE DYING FOR WANT OF DIALYSIS MACHINES.
Their plans included the development of heat pumps, solar cell technology, wind turbines, a new hybrid power pack for motor vehicles and road-rail vehicles.
WHY ARENT WORKERS AT INSTRO PRECISION PRODUCING SCANNERS FOR THE NHS INSTEAD OF WEAPONS COMPONENTS?
Because people are not empowered to decide what’s for the common good. We hardly even hear the phase common good any more.
Free Palestine, free ourselves!
Free Sudan, free Congo DRC, free Haiti, Free Dafur!
LETTER TO DR MAYER SCHREIBER, CEO DISCOVERY PARK
Dear Dr Schreiber,
The undersigned implore you to end Discovery Park’s relationship with Instro Precision in view of their flagrant complicity in ‘plausible genocide,’ as defined by the International Court of Justice; and in view of your liability as a landlord to ensure that criminal activity is not carried out on your premises.
Weapons manufactured by Instro Precision are among those used in attacks that have resulted in the deaths of Palestinian civilians, including more than 14,000 children. Such actions not only violate international humanitarian law but also go against the principles of morality and human decency.
As a responsible corporate entity, it is incumbent upon Discovery Park to uphold ethical standards and ensure that its tenants do not contribute to human rights abuses. By providing a platform for Instro Precision to operate within your premises, Discovery Park inadvertently becomes complicit in the harm caused by their products.
Governments, corporations, companies and individuals complicit in an unfolding genocide and crimes against humanity are increasingly facing the likelihood of consequences for their inaction as referred to in recent press articles.
The Daily Telegraph and Financial Times both reported on April 4th:
“No politician wants to spend their twilight years in the dock at the Hague, so it is with some seriousness that David Cameron and Rishi Sunak will have read the 17-page legal letter sent to them on Monday evening by 600 of the nation’s top lawyers.” Daily Telegraph
“In a letter to prime minister Rishi Sunak, three former Supreme Court justices joined more than 600 jurists and dozens of Labour MPs in warning that the UK risks breaking international law over a ‘plausible risk of genocide’ in Gaza if it does not stop its weapons exports to Israel.” Financial Times
We note your description of Discovery Park as an ‘idyllic setting’ and your list of activities carried out at the site includes: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, healthcare and technology. There is no mention here of ‘arms manufacture,’ unless that comes under the less lethal-sounding moniker of ‘technology.’
You have written of your pride in hosting companies at Discovery Park who promote women’s health and #femtech innovation. This does not sit well with your simultaneous hosting of Instro Precision, a company that manufactures instruments that are directly used to murder a massively disproportionate number of women and children among the civilians killed and who are being deliberately starved by the State of Israel. The prevention of births is among the specific definitions of genocide, as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention. Newborns are dying from blast injuries and women are giving birth to malnourished babies who cannot survive without sustenance denied by the State whom your client serves.
Instead of pleasant pastimes such as fishing or golf, the town of Sandwich is rapidly becoming known for harbouring an arms manufacturer who is producing weapons and instruments being used to commit mass murder of the Palestinian people.
The latest public opinion polls show that the British public in increasing numbers are support a ceasefire. We know from conversations we have had with several of the workers from other companies based in Discovery Park that they are unhappy to be sharing the site with a company producing weapons for Israel too.
In the last month, Somerset Council voted to evict Elbit Systems from their Bristol property, and Paxton, the landlords of the L3 Harris factory in Brighton announced their would not renew their lease when it ends. We urge you to follow this stand. By severing ties with Instro Precision, you will send a clear message that Discovery Park does not support or facilitate violence and oppression against the Palestinian people and is committed to human rights.
We urge you will give serious consideration to ending your relationship with Instro Precision and take prompt action to address it.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue. We look forward to hearing from you regarding the steps that Discovery Park will take in response to this request.
Yours,
The Undersigned.
Letter available to sign here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCZ3MD-k7M2X9JIMc_onJWFIfinh4B4P3pjB9aNImV0tXo1w/viewform
Photo Gallery by Jon Eldude
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